Monday, November 2, 2009

On a rainy, muggy night, thousands of costume-clad partygoers hit Charlotte bars on the first Halloween to fall on a Saturday in 11 years.

It was the culmination of a week of nightly costume parties that started a week before with the Gravedigger's Ball and ended Saturday with virtually every bar in town decking its walls with fake spider webs and orange and black streamers.

And because Oct. 31 was a Saturday this year, parties started early -- more than 1,200 people alone joined Rich and Bennett's Pub Crawl that started at 1 p.m. -- and lasted well into the night for those who were able to go the distance in packed, humid bars. (My aching feet forced me to throw in the towel at 11:30. I wasn't one of the brave few girls who risked who-knows-what by traipsing barefoot through beer-splattered bars.)

The Good:

A few people did their interpretation of recent pop-culture phenomenon Falcon Heene, aka Balloon Boy, but special props go to the guy who pasted a picture of Falcon on the balloon with the caption "Save Me."

One dedicated guy was a very convincing Teen Wolf -- easily the best makeup of the night, along with a group of Kiss lookalikes.

Two airline pilots got a lot of attention: one was a Northwest pilot who had a laptop strapped to him with a sign pointing toward Minneapolis, and the other was local hero Captain Sully, complete with goosefeathers and a deflated-looking goose atop his head.

A group of three guys dressed as plastic Army soldiers and stayed in character throughout the night. They were spotted around town posing for pictures in the classic stances made famous by the toys.

The Bad:

Not only has Halloween become the sluttiest night of the year (see: The Overdone, below), but it has also apparently become the night when men unleash their adolescent senses of humor. Seriously, guys, the giant penis costumes are just gross. Curiously, you never see any of them with dates.

On the opposite end of the in-your-face spectrum are the costumes that aren't immediately recognizable. If you don't know within seconds, it's not a successful costume. I saw way too many of those this weekend.

Football jerseys are just plain lazy. Period.

The Overdone:

I said it last year, and I'll say it again. The sexy insert-any-character/insect/animal-you-can-think-of-here has become entirely too predictable. They all just start to blend in after a while, taking the shock factor out of barely there skirts, fishnets and skimpy tops. (To see any of these said costumes, click on any album on LazyDay.com or CarolinaNightlife.com or check out this list of Dos and Don'ts to consider next year.)

Doctors. (See football jerseys above.)

While I liked this costume, I saw it a lot: guys dressed as the little boy from "Where the Wild Things Are" as the children's classic enjoys a pop-culture resurgence with the movie version of the book in theaters now. But, I have to give credit to any grown man willing to wear a footed onesie.

And, I'm including myself in the overdone category. I was one of many Lady Gagas spotted pants-less around town, although we all offered something different. Here's a pic of me and fellow Gagas.

For more pictures from Halloween, check out my Party Pix slideshow when it goes up Thursday afternoon on CharlotteObserver.com. For video from Saturday night, click here.

This was one of the worst Halloweens I can recall, thanks to the trashy weather. Not just showers, but pouring torrential rains starting at 6 and lasting ALL NIGHT! Naturally, a far cry from what local TV stations here reported. The 'clear' day on Sunday also turned out to be a deception. Rain off and on all day. This all just made it almost unbearable to be out and about Saturday, and of course all the bars were humidly packed.

epicentre was horribly planned and put together.. we stood in a "line" to get wristbands in front of steps where people who already had wristbads were constantly walking up and down and holding up the line not to mention all of the bars keeping everyone out and then surprising everyone at 11 with a "no free entry" excuse.. way too crowded and a huge cluster f. never again.

I can't believe people still go in droves to the epicenter. Do they realize how much money they are out of by the end of the night? Or do they have a clue that all the bars, even though they have different names and 'themes' are owned by the same group: yes those BAR Charlotte people! A true example of a monopoly. They get your money when you show up to park, and no matter which one of their bars you go into. Hasn't anyone at all figured this out yet?

Apparently, the best party in town was at a place in Plaza Midwood called Petra. We went to a couple places and then ended up there. It only cost $8. They had different kinds of shows and contests going on all night in the front bar and a packed dance floor in the back. And the costumes in there were mind-boggling. The weather sure didn't stop those people. Best Halloween party I have ever been to at a bar in Charlotte.

The place to be was the Milestone, just like every other Halloween. 8 local bands running through perfect renditions of 8 slightly more famous bands (think INXS, Bowie, MGMT...), all while dressed like their more known counterparts. Every band was on point, there was massive dance party afterwards, the joint was packed...and to think...just down the road, thousands of poor souls herded themselves into the EPICENTRE.

A perfect example of everything wrong with Charlotte nightlife. Is it wrong to wish an 'Usher' like 'fall' upon the blight that is EpiDisney?

CARNEVIL at Amos's Rocked and rocked inside and out all night long. The DJs and Zombie fashion show was over the top. Best place to party in Charlotte Sat night and the money went to a local charity not into some companies pocket. Think global and local, act local it goes global.

I guess some people don't mind it being so crowded and nasty that you can't move, breathe, or get a drink. Petra's is a great place on regular nights, but it was pouring rain and there were too many people in there to hardly move. Unfortunate. Sadly, we opted to pass. Not many people enjoy being packed in like sardines and then call it a 'good time', unless you are 18 years old.

Tilted Kilt rocked. There was no cover and they had a great DJ. The girls that worked there were dancing with everyone. I know for fact that people skipped Epi to go there because of the rain. I doubt I will ever bother going to Epi again... to much posing and just not worth it.

Some say to skip the Epicentre and go to support some local bar/club. Okay, but what if everyone did exactly that? Your favorite bar would be slam packed full of the people you like to make fun of. Then what? You'd tell them to go back. Am I right?

Sarah Aarthun is the Observer's pop culture writer. When she's not devouring Entertainment Weekly or writing about local and national celebrities for The 'A' List in the Observer, she can be found at hot spots around town.